The number of mobile devices and IoT (Internet of Things) devices connecting to enterprise networks has continually increased. These networks are hybrid in nature in that some aspects of the network are wireless operating under standards such as IEEE 802.11 (promulgated by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers), and other aspects of the network are wired operating under standards such as IEEE 802.3. Management and efficient operations of enterprise networks is therefore limited.
Moreover, many content files are repeatedly downloaded to devices on the enterprise network, leading to further inefficiencies. For example, consider a university campus hosting a large number of iPhones by Apple Inc. of Cupertino, Calif. When an update to iOS is released, there can be hundreds of concurrent and staggered downloads as students access the update. Problematically, a university network can become strained by the high volume of data transfers to the point that both downloaders and other network users experience a low quality of service. Coupled with heterogeneous network architectures that can include a mix of wired and wireless communication channels, and components of different vendors, traditional file caching is limited by choke points having a lack of interoperability.
What is needed is a robust technique to manage local caching or downloaded files over the modern network infrastructure.